Lettuce is one of the most popular leafy green vegetables in the world and there are about 200 varieties of lettuce. This vegetable has very few calories, but beyond being considered as the perfect companion when dieting for weight loss, is a healthy food, able to provide many vitamins and minerals to our body.
Thus, it can help prevent osteoporosis due to its content of important bone minerals such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus and even its small amounts of vitamin A can reduce the chances of heart attacks and increase the efficiency of the immune system.
However, despite having all these and other benefits, many people claim that if you consume it during dinner time can cause certain negative effects, but some of them are myths and here we will answer your questions.
Myths about eating lettuce at night
There is a rumor that says that if we eat salads at dinner time this can cause us to put on weight and generate fluid retention in our body. The latter is an unbalanced accumulation of fluid in the cells both externally and internally.
When such excess fluid in the tissues and circulatory system occurs, it is common for people to feel swelling in their legs, abdomen and ankles. In addition, they may experience weight gain. These effects usually occur in people who are overweight and have unhealthy eating habits and do not exercise.
However, nothing could be further from the truth than to say that eating lettuce at night could be one of the triggers of fluid retention. Well, it is quite the opposite, since this vegetable has a diuretic effect. This is a consequence of its high potassium content which helps to reduce the accumulation of sodium in the body, one of the causes of fluid retention. Therefore, you should be careful with the amount of salt you add to your salad.
To find out when you can get the best lettuces, check the list of all the vegetables and fruits in
list of all the vegetables and fruits in season in November.
True negative effects of eating lettuce
As we have already mentioned, ingesting this vegetable does not cause fluid retention. It is quite the opposite, including it in your diet can bring great benefits to your health, as it stands out for its significant contribution of antioxidants, essentially vitamin C and flavonoids.
Despite this, lettuce, being rich in fiber, can be a little indigestible when it ferments in the stomach. This can lead to a lot of gas and therefore a feeling of increased volume. For this reason, in the case of slow digestion of food, it is advisable to eat salads better at noon than in the evening.
